Preventing and Resolving Parent-Teacher Differences

Posted by teacher on November 4, 2009

Parents and teachers share responsibility for creating a working relationship that fosters children’s learning. This digest examines the cultural context for parent-teacher relationships, suggests some general strategies for creating a climate in which misunderstandings and disagreements between parents and teachers can be minimized through communication, and discusses some general principles for parents and teachers in dealing with misunderstandings or disagreements as they arise.
It is important for teachers and parents to remember that they know the child in different contexts, and that each may be unaware of what the child is like in the other context. It is also useful to keep in mind generally that different people often have distinct but disparate perspectives on the same issue.
Many parents may be surprised to learn that teachers, especially new teachers, are sometimes equally anxious about encounters with parents.